What is a KPI?

KPIs are measurable values that indicate how well a business is performing in achieving its key objectives and goals. They provide a clear and concise snapshot of critical areas within a business.

KPIs help to:

• Monitor progress

• Identify areas of improvement

• Make data-driven decisions

In order to do this, KPIs must be tailored to specific goals and strategies.

Making KPIs Actionable

Here are 8 suggestions to ensure that KPIs are actionable and impactful.

1. Align with business objectives
   

2. Focus on relevance and simplicity

3. Set measurable targets

4. Collect accurate and timely data

5. Visualize your KPIs

6. Regularly review and update

7. Add context

8. Drill down

Actionable KPIs are vital for measuring performance and achieving results. You can drive your business forward by aligning data with goals and simplifying and visualizing KPIs effectively

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I've showed you in several videos and WatchMeViz live streams how to create a 2 level drill down. And naturally the follow up question is always, how can I go one level deeper? This tip has exactly what you're looking for. I show you how to create a 3 level drill down in Tableau.

This example shows you how to drill down from Category to Sub-Category to Segment. All you need to do for your situation is replace the dimensions I'm using with yours. This will work with any combination of 3 dimensions.

Check out the interactive version below the video.

This type is inspired by this example from Lindsey Poulter - https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/lindsey.poulter8872/viz/SetActionDrilldown/ChooseaMetric

Using variance as a measure in bar charts helps you:

1. Add context - You can answer the question “compared to what?”
2. Make decisions - You can answer the question "what should we do next?"
3. Alert you to areas that need focus

In this video, I show you 10 ways to add variance to bar charts. Get the workbook here.

A Merimekko Chart, also known as a variable width bar chart, is useful for comparing both high-level data and low-level data in the same chart. However, since we have size variables for both the width of the bars AND the height of the bars, comparing different segments of the chart is more challenging than it needs to be. Read more about the problems with Merimekko charts here.

In this example, I show you how to make an alternative to a traditional Merimekko Chart. I show you how to compare both category sales and regions sales within each category at the same time.

This can be easily replicated by simply swapping out the dimensions and updating one LOD calculation. Alternatively, you could use two parameters to allow the user to pick both the high-level and low-level dimensions and a third parameter for the measure to compare.

In this tip I show you how to use the INDEX and RANK functions to label the top N values in a chart. I also explain the difference in how they work, and how the RANK function is simpler to configure.